Source : Perth Now news
Two protesters – including one known as “white shirt guy” – hope a lawsuit can reveal what orders police were given when a protest against the Israeli president descended into chaos.
Derek Jones had no idea he would later make international headlines when he attended the rally against the visit of Isaac Herzog in Sydney on February 9.
A video circulated online shows the 56-year-old wearing a white business shirt and holding his hands up as police repeatedly punch him before taking him to the ground.
It was seen as emblematic of the now-infamous protest, which sparked a torrent of police brutality claims and precipitated an independent probe into police actions.
Mr Jones, who sustained two broken ribs, and fellow injured protester James Ricketson faced the NSW Supreme Court on Tuesday to apply for a judicial review in an attempt to ascertain what directions were given to police that day.
Their barrister argued a “high degree of unprovoked violence” against three protesters, captured on video, suggested police had been given a direction to act in a certain way.
“There were quite a few police officers who became involved, who punched and pulled,” Sheryn Omeri KC told the court.
“They simply piled on.”
She contended it is inherently unlikely that police wouldn’t have been given directions in relation to such a significant rally, saying it was not a matter of assumption or suspicion but rather of reality.
Thomas Prince SC, for the NSW government, didn’t deny orders had been given but said it would be impossible to know what to produce in answer to the request.
He accused the protesters of seeking an “unspecified mass of directions” which could seemingly include any instruction given by any police officer at the anti-Herzog protest.
Mr Prince urged the court to dismiss the summons, arguing it had been lodged by the protesters in a “fishing expedition” to shore up a possible future civil claim.
But Ms Omeri said the judicial review was the only legal action taken by her clients regarding the rally.
A decision will be handed down at a later date.
Outside court, Mr Ricketson recalled suddenly finding himself on the ground with around six police officers on top of him during the February 9 protest.
“It was only when I saw footage of … them jostling me like a pinball machine before I went down to the ground that I realised what had actually happened,” he told AAP.
The 76-year-old was arrested for assaulting a police officer but released without charge hours later, bleeding and injured.
He said he was motivated to ensure the scenes did not repeat.
